Technology-wise, it seems like a trio of building blocks that fit together nicely. Eucalyptus, which we’ve covered extensively, provides a foundation for turning existing resources into an Amazon EC2-style cloud computing infrastructure. rPath enables automation of both platform and application stacks via a software repository that knows which components are required for any given workload or user. newScale offers a self-service frontend for letting business users provision their own resources, with the IT department’s policies already built into the experience (i.e., users only have the option of getting what they’re approved to get).

Business-wise, it’s difficult to argue with the idea of strength through unity, but the Eucalyptus-rPath-newScale platform will find it tough going to win customers. Given Eucalyptus’ NASA connection, the most obvious comparison will be to the aforementioned — and free — open-source OpenStack.

Internal cloud software options and approaches appear to be growing with each passing week. Solo vendors, vendor partnerships, startups, huge vendors, proprietary, open source, open core, IaaS, PaaS, hybrid … it’s never-ending. Assuming Eucalyptus hasn’t lost too much luster after the NASA loss, its mindshare momentum and renowned CEO could help raise this new partnership’s voice above the noise. Proving its approach is the right one in such a nascent, crowded market won’t be so easy, though.